It’s a familiar scenario. I get a phone call from a woman seeking advice because she’s tired of being overlooked and passed over for promotions. She feels stuck and powerless. Since I started my coaching practice in 2007, I’ve heard countless stories of frustration from professional women who have a strong work ethic and excellent performance and can’t figure out what more they need to do to get promoted.
“Why can’t I get ahead?”
“It must be the workplace culture.”
“It must be my manager who doesn’t advocate for me or know my value.”
“It must be gender bias; men are getting promoted faster.”
Certainly, there are many workplace obstacles for women and valid reasons to explain why women aren’t getting ahead.
But here’s the reality: We still haven’t accepted the fact that it takes more than our hard work and great performance to get promoted. It also takes political savvy.
Read the full article on Forbes.com.
Hello Bonnie.
I came upon your site and thought..”This is exactly what I have been looking for.” I have been in marketing, mainly professional services ( financial firms and law firms) for 20 years and the pattern is always the same. I come up with strategies and implement ….and in every case, at the risk of immodesty, in 4 – 5 years, the advisors, lawyers and firm see incredible results. (they even amaze me!) I say you will see some value in 6 months, but full value in 3 – 4 years..and that is what always happens, and just like clockwork, when these systems start working, I get let go. it is as if they design the car, build it, create the systems that makes it work…and then they throw me off the bus and run with it. It has happened so many times..every time…that I am tired of working hard (and I do enjoy the challenge) but just when I might really enjoy the fruits of my labor, I am let go…Always when things I set up are working well. I could understand If my ideas did not work but they did..incredibly well. In fact, my words still appear on the website and my ideas are still being used…ten years later..so they work to grow business. I see the pattern but do not know why this keeps happening and when I read your site, I thought…this is my story. I am so excited to be reading that other people share this story. I always though tgreat results are enough. I now know that actually (I think) results mean little. It is all about political savvy. (I have seen peopelwho are not very smart, steal others’ ideas get big promotions…They have political savvy. I have no idea how this is done.
Just not in my nature but I am ho[ping in can learn. I hope you can help me break this pattern of making financil services advisers and lawyers successful …and their firms..and then when we reach our goals (increase quality of clients, increase profits) they let me go. One actually told me and these are his exact words, “I have enough business and enough Clients and I don’t need you any more. please do not come back on Monday. _ This was on Thanksgiving weekend…and this was a man who confided that when I first went to work with him..after he begged me for a year..he had nothing..and six years later, he was #3 in the country and had enough assets under management to go independent, always our goal. He told me many times, “As we grown, you will grown. You will have a place here as long as we have a company. I feel like I am working for you.” ..and then once we reached our success goal (dollars under management) through corporate seminars I had developed and set up at defense contractors, he let me go. This has been the pattern for the past 20+ years. Seems I can promote everyone but myself. Thank you for your time and attention. Jeanne